Self-Perceptions and Cross Evaluations of Digital Literacy and Technology Use Among EFL Mentor Teachers and Teaching Mentees

With the growing adoption of digital technologies in education, digital literacy (DL) is essential for both novice and experienced educators. Farhangian University, Iran’s leading teacher education institution, plays a key role in fostering DL and technology integration through internship programs where mentor teachers model instructional practices. Despite its significance, the DL competencies of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching mentees of Farhangian University and their mentor teachers remain underexplored. Grounded in the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and Teacher Digital Competency (TDC) frameworks, this descriptive study examined self-perceptions and cross-evaluations of DL and technology use among EFL mentor teachers and teaching mentees at Farhangian University. Purposive sampling was used to distribute two parallel Likert-scale questionnaires to 62 female EFL teaching mentees, enrolled in practicum course three, and 53 female EFL mentor teachers in Isfahan. Self‑perceptions revealed that both mentors and mentees rated themselves most proficient in basic digital tools; mentees reported broader confidence across collaborative and content‑specific technologies, while mentors rated themselves lower across specialized applications. Cross‑evaluations showed that mentors viewed mentees as digitally capable but only moderately effective in classroom integration, whereas mentees perceived their mentors as less digitally literate and infrequent technology users. Both mentors and mentees rated their own competencies higher than those of their counterparts, indicating a self‑enhancement bias and underscoring intergenerational differences in DL perceptions. These findings highlight the need for reciprocal DL development, stronger mentor modeling, and structured digital training within teacher education programs to address intergenerational gaps.